The present disclosure relates to volume based three-dimensional virtual examinations, and more particularly relates to a system and method for detection and correction of motion artifacts introduced during scanning.
Two-dimensional (“2D”) visualization of human organs using medical imaging devices has been widely used for patient diagnosis. Currently available medical imaging devices include computed tomography (“CT”) and magnetic resonance imaging (“MRI”), for example. Three-dimensional (“3D”) images can be formed by stacking and interpolating between two-dimensional pictures produced from the scanning machines. Imaging an organ and visualizing its volume in three-dimensional space would be beneficial due to the lack of physical intrusion and the ease of data manipulation. However, the exploration of the three-dimensional volume image must be properly performed in order to fully exploit the advantages of virtually viewing an organ from the inside.
Although the scanning speeds of modern MRI, CT scanners and like equipment are an improvement over earlier technologies, they generally remain slow enough that patient movement during a scan can cause blurring of a boundary formed by the tissue of the patient and the background of the scanning equipment. This blurring is usually referred to as “motion artifact”. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a scanning system and method capable of detecting and correcting these motion artifacts.